Controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2021
Cocoa forced-labor class action
Formerly enslaved children filed a class-action complaint naming Cargill and other cocoa purchasers, alleging that the companies knowingly benefited from forced labor.
2021
FACT files consumer-protection lawsuit against Cargill over turkey-product claims
Lawsuit filed
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) sued Cargill, alleging that it misled consumers by representing its Honeysuckle White and Shady Brook Farms turkey products as environmentally friendly and the turkeys as humanely treated and raised by independent family farmers. The complaint also alleges pollution and harmful industrial poultry practices. The allegations are not stated as court findings.
Stated objective. FACT seeks to end Cargill's unlawful conduct directed at D.C. consumers.
Source excerpt
The action was filed Tuesday, Dec. 14, on behalf of FACT by Richman Law & Policy in D.C. Superior Court under the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act.
The lawsuit complaint alleges that Cargill is a major polluter employing industrial poultry practices that are inherently hazardous and contribute to the growth of harmful antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
Food Animal Concerns Trust ("FACT") has sued Cargill, Inc. ("Cargill") for misleading consumers by representing that its Honeysuckle White and Shady Brook Farms turkey products are environmentally friendly, and that the turkeys are treated humanely and raised by "independent family farmers."
2021
Cargill settles alleged chemical reporting violations
Settlement
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a settlement with Cargill over alleged failures to timely file Toxic Release Inventory reports for zinc and manganese compounds processed at its Swanton, Vermont plant. Cargill agreed to pay a $40,294 penalty.
Source excerpt
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently finalized a settlement with Cargill, Inc., a Minnesota based company with a facility in Vermont that produces animal feed, for alleged violations of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Program.
Cargill, Inc. agreed to pay a penalty of $40,294 for allegedly failing to timely file TRI reports for zinc and manganese compounds processed at its plant in Swanton, Vermont.
2021
Great Lakes Cheese sues Cargill over rocks in salt deliveries
Lawsuit filed
Great Lakes Cheese entities sued Cargill and two transportation companies, alleging that salt deliveries in January and August 2020 contaminated a facility silo with rocks and damaged cheese products. The allegations are not presented as a court determination.
Source excerpt
The document was filed by Great Lakes Cheese Co. Inc. and Great Lakes Cheese of New York against three businesses that were involved in the delivery of the salt, Cargill Incorporated, which produced and sold salt, and two transportation companies that transported and delivered the salt, G & L Trucking Inc.and Kuhnle Brothers Inc.,
After the January and August orders, the plaintiffs found rocks and pebbles on their salt belt and found that the salt in the silo had been contaminated with rocks.
2019
Environmental and human-rights criticism
Mighty Earth and Public Eye criticized Cargill over alleged links to deforestation, pollution, labor exploitation, land-use impacts, and limited corporate transparency.
2010
Uzbek cotton labor complaint
An international complaint accused Cargill of benefiting from cotton production in Uzbekistan despite allegations of forced and child labor in the sector.
2005
Cocoa child-trafficking lawsuit
The International Labor Rights Fund filed litigation on behalf of children who alleged that they had been trafficked from Mali and forced to work on cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire supplying major chocolate companies, including Cargill.